Mahalo.com
Mahalo.com is a web directory (or human search engine) launched in alpha test in May 2007 by Jason Calacanis. As of January 2008, the project is in beta test. It differentiates itself from algorithmic search engines like Google and Ask.com, as well as other directory sites like DMOZ and Yahoo by tracking and building hand-crafted result sets for many of the currently popular search terms. Mahalo means "thank you" in Hawaiian. Directory Mahalo's directory employs human editors to review websites and write search engine results pages that include text listings, as well as other media, such as photos and video. Each Mahalo search results page includes links to the top seven sites, as well as other categorized information, and additional web pages from Google. As described by Calacanis himself, they take the most common facts people are looking for and bring them up in relevance. Facts that would be on the second click are now on the first - a more concise version.Internet Evolution (www.internetevolution.com): Jason Calacanis, Founder & CEO, Mahalo The company also pays freelancers to create pages for piecework compensation in the Mahalo Greenhouse - the pages are approved by a full time staff member prior to appearing in the main index. CommsDay | The Home of the CommsDay Family of Newsletters and EventsMahalo Greenhouse Mahalo's approach is similar to Ask.com's strategy from 1998. At that time both Ask and Google were up-and-coming search engines. Ultimately Google prevailed because Ask had trouble scaling up its human edited directory, and Google's search results were generated by software. Mahalo has started with the top 4,000 search terms in popular categories like travel, entertainment, cars, food, health care and sports and is adding about 500 more terms per week with a goal of covering the top 10,000 by the end of 2007. This goal has been exceeded when, in December 2007, Mahalo announced that its index has reached 25,000 pages, a year earlier than it was expected. Mahalo breaks 25000 pages and announces creative commons license[ http://startupbeat.com/sub/2007/12/mahalo_releases_social_search_service_id2130.html Mahalo releases social search service] Mahalo also offers "how to" guides offering instructions on popular topics in an editorial fashion. Mahalo will deliver results for less popular searches from Google. Search results quality Mahalo's goal is to improve search results by eliminating search spam from low-quality websites, such as those that have excessive advertising, distribute malware, or engage in phishing scams. Webmasters have a vested interest to see their sites listed. Calacanis has said that algorithmic search engines, like Google and Yahoo, suffer from manipulation by search engine optimization practitioners. Mahalo's reliance on human editors is intended to avoid this problem, producing search results that are more relevant to the user. Mahalo Daily Video Show Veronica Belmont was hired by Mahalo.com to produce a daily video show for the site. Her first video was an interview with Leeroy Jenkins. Belmont left Mahalo Daily to co-host the Revision3 series Tekzilla. After a month-long search, Belmont's replacement was announced on June 5, 2008. Former cable sports show host Leah D'Emilio won Mahalo Vlog Idol and now co-hosts the show with Mahalo.com employee Lon Harris. Critics Jim Lanzone, CEO of Ask.com said, "Just like a lot of people who watch movies think they can be scriptwriters, there are a lot of people who use search engines who think they can build a search engine." Lanzone cited the fact that about 60% of search inquiries to Ask are unique as just one of the challenges of running a search engine. Google claims that 20% to 25% of its search inquiries have never been used before. At the SMX Conference in June 2007, Google software engineer Matt Cutts explained that while he supports different approaches to search, like Mahalo, it is untrue that humans have nothing to do with Google's search results. As examples of human involvement he cited Google's use of hyperlink analysis, toolbar voting, and user reporting of spam. Cutts suggested that Google would evolve to take advantage of social media. Ownership and funding Lead investors in Mahalo.com include Sequoia Capital's Michael Moritz, an early investor in both Google and Yahoo; Elon Musk, founder of PayPal; and News Corporation. Other disclosed investors include Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and AOL chairman Ted Leonsis Jason Calacanis has said that he has enough funding to run Mahalo for four or five years without making a profit. Mahalo eventually hopes to make a profit by selling ads next to search results. Traffic and growth Mahalo has experienced rapid growth since launch in May 2007. Mahalo.com traffic has increased from roughly ten thousand visitors a month in July of 2007, to two million visitors a month in January of 2008. SnapShot of Mahalo.com Compete.com Retrieved on 2008-02-23. In the three month period leading up to the date of February 23 2008, the number of global internet users who visited Mahalo.com rose by fifty percent, and the site is currently ranked by Alexa in the top 3000 most visited websites. Mahalo.com - Traffic Details from Alexa Alexa.com Retrieved on 2008-03-19. Notes References * External links * Mahalo.com * HowStuffWorks.com Category:Companies based in Los Angeles County Category:Internet companies of the United States Category:Internet search engines Category:Internet properties established in 2007 Category:Pay per click search engines Category:Human edited search engines Category:MediaWiki websites es:Mahalo it:mahalo.com ja:Mahalo